It wasn’t too long ago that almost all gift cards self destructed. After 6 or 12 months they started subtracting a “maintenance” fee until the balance was reduced to zero. Thankfully this has largely gone out of style. Now the main issue is when you get a gift card to a store that you don’t normally shop at. It becomes a sort of solitaire game show where you need to select the exact items to use up the maximum amount on the gift card possible without going over.

My favorite things about gift cards is when you think you’ve used all of it up, but give it to the cashier anyways to see that you still have some money on it. Helped me get a few toys when I was a kid.